From Joshua's assault on Jericho in the 15th century B.C. to the Russian attack on the Chechen capital of Grozny at the end of the 20th century, siege warfare has been a recurring theme in the human story. Again and again, engineers have built supposedly impregnable fortifications, only to see them overrun by an ingenious enemy.
In Besieged, military historian Paul F. Davis analyzes the most crucial sieges in world history, such as the siege of Leningrad, which weakened the Nazi forces in World War II, and that of the Alamo, which culminated in independence for Texas. He also describes important sieges unfamiliar to most readers, such as that of Arcot, where a British victory halted the French takeover of southern India. In engaging, accessible language, Davis tracks the invention of new technologies, analyzes innovative tactics, and tells the human story of conditions both inside and outside the city walls.
| Preface | ix | |
| Jericho (1405 BC) | 1 | |
| Troy (1250 BC) | 3 | |
| Plataea (429-427 BC) | 6 | |
| Syracuse (415-413 BC) | 9 | |
| Veii (404-396 BC) | 14 | |
| Tyre (332 BC) | 17 | |
| Syracuse (213-212 BC) | 20 | |
| Carthage (149-146 BC) | 24 | |
| Numantia (134-133 BC) | 29 | |
| Alesia (52 BC) | 31 | |
| Jerusalem (70) | 35 | |
| Masada (73-74) | 39 | |
| Aquileia (452) | 42 | |
| Rome (537-38) | 44 | |
| Constantinople (717-18) | 47 | |
| Pavia (773-74) | 50 | |
| Paris (885-86) | 53 | |
| Jerusalem (1099) | 55 | |
| Acre (1189-91) | 59 | |
| Montsegur (1243-44) | 62 | |
| Baghdad (1258) | 66 | |
| Hsiang-yang (1268-73) | 68 | |
| Calais (1346-47) | 71 | |
| Nicopolis (1396) | 74 | |
| Orleans (1428-29) | 76 | |
| Constantinople (1453) | 80 | |
| Granada (1491) | 85 | |
| Tenochtitlan (1521) | 88 | |
| Rhodes (1522) | 94 | |
| Pavia (1524-25) | 97 | |
| Vienna (1529) | 101 | |
| Boulogne (1544) | 105 | |
| Malta (1565) | 107 | |
| Chitor Garh (1567-68) | 111 | |
| Famagusta (1571) | 113 | |
| Antwerp (1584-85) | 116 | |
| Kinsale (1601-02) | 121 | |
| Osaka (1614-15) | 125 | |
| La Rochelle (1627-28) | 129 | |
| Magdeburg (1631) | 132 | |
| Maastricht (1673) | 137 | |
| Vienna (1683) | 139 | |
| Londonderry (1689) | 142 | |
| St. Augustine (1702) | 146 | |
| Turin (1706) | 149 | |
| Lille (1708) | 151 | |
| Louisbourg (1745) | 154 | |
| Arcot (1751) | 157 | |
| Fort Niagara (1759) | 160 | |
| Quebec (1759) | 163 | |
| Havana (1762) | 167 | |
| Boston (1775-76) | 171 | |
| Quebec (1775-76) | 175 | |
| Fort Stanwix (1777) | 179 | |
| Gibraltar (1779-83) | 183 | |
| Pensacola (1781) | 187 | |
| Yorktown (1781) | 191 | |
| Toulon (1793) | 195 | |
| Genoa (1800) | 199 | |
| Badajoz (1812) | 201 | |
| Cuautla (1812) | 205 | |
| Cartagena (1815) | 208 | |
| Athens (Acropolis) (1826-27) | 212 | |
| The Alamo (1836) | 215 | |
| Rome (1849) | 220 | |
| Sevastopol (1854-55) | 222 | |
| Delhi (1857) | 227 | |
| Gaeta (1860-61) | 231 | |
| Puebla (1863) | 234 | |
| Vicksburg (1863) | 237 | |
| Petersburg (1864-65) | 241 | |
| Fort Fisher (1864-65) | 245 | |
| Humaita (1867-68) | 249 | |
| Paris (1870-71) | 252 | |
| Plevna (1877) | 256 | |
| Khartoum (1884-85) | 260 | |
| Chitral (1895) | 263 | |
| Manila (1898) | 267 | |
| Mafeking (1899-1900) | 271 | |
| Peking (1900) | 276 | |
| Port Arthur (1904-05) | 280 | |
| Liege (1914) | 284 | |
| Kut-al-Amara (1915-16) | 288 | |
| Madrid (1936-39) | 291 | |
| Bilbao (1937) | 297 | |
| Malta (1940-42) | 301 | |
| Tobruk (1941) | 306 | |
| Leningrad (1941-44) | 311 | |
| Sevastopol (1941-42) | 316 | |
| Singapore (1942) | 318 | |
| Stalingrad (1942-43) | 323 | |
| Monte Cassino (1944) | 327 | |
| Imphal (1944) | 333 | |
| Dien Bien Phu (1953-54) | 337 | |
| Quemoy (Kinmen) (1958-59) | 342 | |
| Khe Sanh (1968) | 345 | |
| Beirut (1982) | 349 | |
| Basra (1982-87) | 352 | |
| Sarajevo (1991-95) | 357 | |
| Grozny (1994-95) | 360 | |
| Glossary | 365 | |
| Index | 369 |
Overview
From Joshua's assault on Jericho in the 15th century B.C. to the Russian attack on the Chechen capital of Grozny at the end of the 20th century, siege warfare has been a recurring theme in the human story. Again and again, engineers have built supposedly impregnable fortifications, only to see them overrun by an ingenious enemy.
In Besieged, military historian Paul F. Davis analyzes the most crucial sieges in world history, such as the siege of Leningrad, which weakened the Nazi...